Originally Posted By: Bill S.
Lemaitre [a Belgian-RC priest] is rightly credited with the proposal of what became the Big Bang theory, and the Hubble constant should probably be called the Lemaitre-Hubble constant, but let's give credit where credit is due to:
Quote:
Robert Grosseteste
--First published Tue Jul 10, 2007; substantive revision Wed May 8, 2013 --
Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168–1253), Bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, was one of the most prominent and remarkable figures in thirteenth-century English intellectual life. He was a man of many talents: commentator and translator of Aristotle and Greek patristic thinkers, philosopher, theologian, and student of nature. H Robert Grosseteste was 700 years ahead of his fellow cleric.
Bill S, NO BS: Thanks for your excellent comment about Lemaitre and Grosseteste [BTW, Grosseteste was a name that came up, often, in an extensive series of seminars, which I attended years ago. They were held at Boston U, and the seminars were led by Boston U & Harvard profs. That was in (1954-1955) when I did a masters in THE HISTORY OF IDEAS. Your comment is an excellent contribution to this thread.

For anyone who wants to know more about this great and good minister, check out this quote from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grosseteste/#Lif
Quote:
As has been suggested, it seems that Robert Grosseteste was a man ahead of his time. He was a theologian and philosopher who, in a recently translated Latin text, written in 1225, proposed that the Universe started, not with a BIG Bang, but with a flash of light.

In those days Aristotle’s idea that the Universe was composed of a number of concentric, Earth centred, crystal spheres was gaining popularity; and this is how Grosseteste saw things. However, when modern mathematics and physics were applied to his original text, it appeared that he had foreshadowed not only the Big Bang, but also multiple universes.
Now note the change I have made to my signature--exactly 100 digits.

G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org